9 de Junio 2006

Huge Aerial Database Update for Google Earth Thursday Night!

[21-JUN-2006: The aerial photos are now also available in Google Maps]

Google made a HUGE update to the Google Earth satellite/aerial photos database late Thursday night June 8th (not yet available in Google Maps aerial database). There are now high resolution satellite photo data strips scattered all over the world where there were previously only lower resolution data. Now you will find strips of high resolution aerial photos for many towns, cities, and even rural areas in countries all over the world including Russia, China, Africa, Taiwan, USA, Canada, Bermuda, the Caribbean Islands, many islands in the Pacific, Puerto Rico, South America, New Zealand, Australia, etc., etc. Wow! It's going to take time to absorb just how fantastic this is.

A special thanks to 'Cyclonic' at the Google Earth Community who alerted me to the update. Cyclonic manages the database of airplanes in flight which often is responsible for discovering new database updates.

Todas las imágenes de Google Earth capturadas de pantalla son Copyright de Google

Comentarios

Woah...this...this is truely awesome!

Enviado por: SashDaMan at 9 de Junio 2006 a las 04:48 AM

Finally a proper update for Dubai, especially the offshore reclamation projects can been seen nicely

Enviado por: Raoul at 9 de Junio 2006 a las 05:39 AM

i saw the update this morning, and it also includes my home town (in Vietnam) along with several other cities in Vietnam. however, only half of my home town is in high resolution (the half that my house isnt in):(

NOW they update Puerto Rico to show Arecibo better, after my article in Sky & Telescope was published.

Also, regarding that possible crater in Canada I also mentioned (noted in this blog a while back), someone said elsewhere online that it isn't a crater, but a geological feature called a daipir. Still waiting for some "official" correspondence about it.

Enviado por: Stuart Goldman at 9 de Junio 2006 a las 12:46 PM

Just noticed the updated aerial imagery of the Carmel/Fishers and Avon areas near Indianapolis -- the new imagery was obviously taken during the winter; everything's covered in snow!!

Enviado por: Glenn at 9 de Junio 2006 a las 03:38 PM

I don't know if it's from this update, or not, but Peru is looking beutiful! I guess this is Google's answer to Microsoft's update.

Enviado por: Shawn at 9 de Junio 2006 a las 03:38 PM

Here's what I've found so far:

- Much of Israel and Lebanon
- Most all of Puerto Rico
- Most of the Caribrean islands
- Lots of Venezuela
- Lots more of Mexico
- Lots of Yemen
- Lots of the UAE including Dubai (check out the island communities along the coast!)
- Lots of Iran (including Tehran)
- Lots of Saudi Arabia (including Ryiad)
- Huge amounts on the horn of Africa (including Mugdisho)
- Much of the coast of western Africa
- I'd estimate about 20% of South America south of Brazil
- Most of the Marshall Islands
- Guam and the rest of the Marianna's Islands
- Lots more of New Zealand (finally!) and Australia
- More of India
- Almost the entire coast from Rangoon, Burma around the India, across the northerm edge of the Indian Ocean into the Persian Gulf.
- Most of the islands in the central Indian Ocean (including a very cloud covered Diego Garcia)
- Most large cities in the eastern Indian Ocean archipelago
- Lots of strips all across Asia.
- More in both North and South Korea
- Expanded coverage in Japan (especially extending out from Tokyo)
- Almost all of the Nile River in Egypt is now covered

Not new (but I haven't spent a lot of time looking):

- Doesn't seem to be a lot new in North America - (though almost all of S California is there now)
- Doesn't seem to be a lot new in Europe

Enviado por: kjfitz at 9 de Junio 2006 a las 03:46 PM

What really irritates me though is that Google Earth doesn't seem to care about fog and winter conditions. I tried to check out an area in the south-east of Sweden and although the reolution was higher, I couldn't see a darn thing because of snow and fog. It was better with lower resolution and summer. Well waddya expect from a California company.

Enviado por: Dag at 9 de Junio 2006 a las 04:34 PM

There's a good side-by-side example of the difference, at the shipbreaking yards at Chittagong, Bangladesh. Wow, nice new resolutions. Wish there were a better way to tell the date a picture was taken.

The images for Wellington, New Zealand apppear to be very recent, probably in Jan/Feb of this year. The grass on various sports fields is looks pretty dry and the roadworks associated with a new motorway by-pass are well underway, all of which points to this year.

Enviado por: Tinshed at 9 de Junio 2006 a las 09:23 PM

what happened here ?

-43 44.679,172 2.19

Enviado por: gulo at 9 de Junio 2006 a las 09:54 PM

Is there any further update on the aerial database for Singapore? It still seems to be low resoulution for the whole of Singapore. When is the next update?

Enviado por: sg at 9 de Junio 2006 a las 10:45 PM

Arecibo looks very nice, unless you try looking with some perspective. The dish doesn't look much like a bowl from the side.

Enviado por: Stuart Goldman at 9 de Junio 2006 a las 10:52 PM

So just when were these images taken?

I looked up Palm Cove, Queensland Australia. The Sea Temple Resort & Spa. (16.45.01 70 S , 145.40.17.53 E ), built 2004, appears as a large area of cleared land.

Hardly the true meaning of ?updated? when the images are two years old! So how accurate would the premium subscription images be? Rip off, if they?re the same as these!

Enviado por: daz at 10 de Junio 2006 a las 12:26 AM

Eastern Ontario (Ottawa and area) has had a major update. There is a lot more coverage, and already covered areas have been updated (albeit with a cloudy downtown).

Enviado por: peter at 10 de Junio 2006 a las 12:53 AM

Google really needs to keep this updated across both Google Earth and Google Maps. It's annoying tobe able to see something in Earth but not in Maps.

I still do not understand something. When I first test-drove the Keyhole data -- pre-acquisition, my house was at hjgh resolution. I could see which car was in the drive way and noticed a green/yellow tinge on the blacktop. My wife rememberd the kids writing with chalk in that spot once or twice. That same locale is very low resolution now. I'll not post my street address here, but my PO Box is public: Lisbon, MD, 21765. Just to the south is very decent.

This is great! Lots and lots of new placemarks in Pakistan!!
Lahore is now in hi-res, many places around Lahore...
around Islamabad
some in Northern Areas
NWFP (south of Tirich Mir, Chitral down to Saidu Sharif, Swat)
Lots of places all around Sindh,
Lots of places around Balochistan and almost the whole Makran coast has been updated...

Yay! They got a high res picture of my town finally. And they also have random strips of high res around Labrador where there are no towns o.o

Enviado por: Kotjze at 10 de Junio 2006 a las 10:17 PM

Some parts of Israel have improved, but the imagery is still sub-par.

Enviado por: Konstantin P at 12 de Junio 2006 a las 08:35 PM

Wow, almost every important city in Brazil is there in high resolution. Fine... I love this program. Now I almost can travel from Belo Horizonte to Brasilia, From Brasilia to Uruana (State of Goiᳩ, From Belo Horizonte to Rio by Satellite!!! It's amazing!

Enviado por: Marcos at 12 de Junio 2006 a las 09:25 PM

There's still a section of Toronto, Ontario, Canada in low res... I'm hoping someday they will get a new image for that section!

Although Germany was updated a month or so ago, several improved high resolution images are now in and around the Frankfurt area.

Enviado por: Donal at 14 de Junio 2006 a las 04:58 PM

HAs anyone seen Bagdad? What a mess! Can anyone explain the traffic? The red paint? The areas that have been deleted from the images?
Very interesting...

Enviado por: Roy at 16 de Junio 2006 a las 05:53 PM

looks like russian images for most rural parts of russia - siberia much worse than it used to be and some places masked and so bad that you cannot see anything. but funny part that old marked locations still marks something which now unrecognizable

Well finally a slice of Albania is Uncovered at Google Earth. Although I wish that they would take a high resolution of two and a half cities. One would be Pogradec, two would be Korce and the half city would be right in middle of those cities in which a small town called Zvirine exists. I want to see my house there and then spit at the pitifull inhabitants of it.

Enviado por: SomeGuy at 24 de Junio 2006 a las 12:37 AM

Well I actually wonder about something. How up to date are the images? Because some (like Dakar, Senegal) seem VERY outdated.

Pity they haven't updated the roads yet. Google Maps has excellent road coverage of Wellington NZ (even including my property boundries!), but they still haven't updated the Google Earth DB with them.

Enviado por: Justin Bell at 25 de Junio 2006 a las 06:43 AM

Wow....thank to google.
You give a lot of important information to us here in Indonesia, especially who closed to Jogjakarta area that strike by eartquacke last month. But we still waiting your high res image of mounth Merapi (one of the most active volcano in the world, that on the highest alert level for almost 2 month, the longest in recorded history) and surrounding area to give more information/warning to the crowded villager (around 20-25 km from the mountain) about the volcano hazard in the near future (the volcanic activity change a lot the mountain face and direction of the main "lahar" hazard on the next rainy season)
We are hoping your next update will included those area (You must.....)
Rgds,
Tjahja S

The above link may work but if not, then just go to Machu Picchu, Peru.

Enviado por: Ed at 29 de Junio 2006 a las 10:17 AM

Amsterdam is getting pretty good, was able to find the windmill "de Otter" but a lot of the Dutch countryside is still low res. Also Northern California foothills area is all still low res. (Yuba County)

Enviado por: Kees den Breejen at 8 de Julio 2006 a las 12:18 AM

Being a lover of the earth what a better affordable way to explore our earth

Enviado por: paul at 9 de Julio 2006 a las 01:34 PM

Wow, amazing features were made to improve not only the appearance of G Earth, but the way to use it. High resolution photos in China are astonishing!!! I can find where I work, even the roof top!

Enviado por: Anthony at 9 de Julio 2006 a las 09:14 PM

Wow,

Palau look so diff'r'nt and so beautiful only if it was cloudless....though still awesome.

Enviado por: Stu at 14 de Julio 2006 a las 12:03 AM

Bournemouth Pier on S Coast of England has an extra ghost image of half of itself in the sea just close by to the East!!

Enviado por: Ken Pavitt at 14 de Julio 2006 a las 06:30 PM

What a wonderful way to, explore the world on my cheap budget.

Enviado por: Dennis at 14 de Julio 2006 a las 07:12 PM

The high resolution strips are fabulous. One regret though... my town Coimbatore in South India has not made it... but many of the great temples are there, Srirangam, Madurai e.t.c

Enviado por: Manoj at 15 de Julio 2006 a las 06:03 AM

How about the Azores? Nothing there....Seems like the program is pretty worthless unless you are only interested in big cities..... Whenever you want to check out interesting little places, there is nothing available. Good mapping and high resolution pictures is whats needed. I am planning on going to the Azores on vacation this year and wanted to see the layout of each island, but its all hype and no info.

Enviado por: Joe L. Bettencourt at 10 de Agosto 2006 a las 11:42 AM

The New Zealand imagery appears to have regressed in Google Earth. As little as a month ago I was looking at the apartments at the bottom of Onslow Road in Wellington. Now they're gone. I think they've gone to Wellington City Council images ($$ ?) which are older. The subdivision above me doesn't even exist yet, but a month ago it showed up.
(off to check Google Maps now)

Enviado por: Bruce Fitzsimons at 9 de Septiembre 2006 a las 07:00 AM

Could anyone tell me where to find old satelite photos of China's Yangzi river? I'm doing a environmental research and in need of old photos for comparison. many thanks!

Enviado por: michelle at 13 de Septiembre 2006 a las 09:12 PM

fantastic way to travel and to know what to expect.can have the greek islands in high resolution?some images are 4-5 years old!!!

Enviado por: george at 7 de Octubre 2006 a las 02:07 AM

Amazing pictures from my homeland Peru. This is what I was waiting for. I am a geologist and Google pictures were before only useful for limited reconaissance. Now my job is much more easier. I can have a much more detailed overview of several places I am reviewing.
Thanks Google!

Does anyone know if Google Earth is updated on regularly scheduled basis (i.e. every six month) and if so when it the next update scheduled for.
thanks

Enviado por: Barry Grimes at 18 de Noviembre 2006 a las 03:10 PM

The picture of where I live in Pleasant Prairie Wisconsin still shows the area where my townhome development as being just gravel covered roads. This area hasnt been like that since 2003. We need more updates in the US as well.

Enviado por: Dave at 27 de Noviembre 2006 a las 02:53 PM

I love GE, wish I knew when the updates occurred(sp?), anyway, Cairo Egypt updated over recent 6 months... one of the fields surrounding my home has sand instead of agriculture...cheers GE

Enviado por: cairocoach at 1 de Diciembre 2006 a las 01:09 AM

Need an update for the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia the area is booming and your resolution is really bad

Enviado por: Jack Bleiberg at 8 de Enero 2007 a las 08:57 PM

can google update more in philippines?

Enviado por: Ranie19 at 10 de Enero 2007 a las 03:43 AM

Does anybody know when the San Francisco Bay area and LA area has last been updated? Or just how old the current pictures are more or less?
THANKS!

Enviado por: condesa at 10 de Enero 2007 a las 11:58 AM

Thanks for the maps! I'm really looking forward to update for Finland and Scandinavia!

Enviado por: Teemu Salo at 26 de Enero 2007 a las 03:45 AM

If anyone has access to the 1959 map done by George P. Murdock, and knowledge of KMZ, it could be a useful contrast to modern boundaries. It shows the hundreds of natural/tribal boundaries in Africa at that time.

Enviado por: AlterGeek at 1 de Febrero 2007 a las 06:43 PM

Is the Philippines included in the said update? I know it will cost Google a lot of money to update 100% of the country to high resolution.

At least try to consider some of the major provinces like Cavite, Batangas, Laguna and Bataan.

These provinces are just a few Kilometers away from the Nation's Capital (Manila).

Enviado por: Reiko at 2 de Febrero 2007 a las 02:29 PM

I`ll be glad to see Latvia in High Resolusion.

Enviado por: Namix at 6 de Febrero 2007 a las 09:52 AM

To find out the date of a picture.
go to http://www.digitalglobe.com/
click on "image library"
zoom in to the area you want.
it will come up with a list of photo dates.
click in the check box to highlight the photo
and it will show you which photo you selected
and the date it was taken.

Enviado por: Chris at 28 de Febrero 2007 a las 09:37 AM

Google Earth is an amazing website because you can see the world in space view and se detailed places in a quick amount of time. I really am surprised on how detailed you are able to see the world. I can also see Italy very detailed and personaly i love looking at Italy because it is where i'm from.....it is also very good because this website offers differnt languages wich are very helpful if you speak other languages.

Enviado por: Bianca at 7 de Marzo 2007 a las 07:55 PM

Anyone know if its possible to work out when the satellites pass over/ images updated etc? I'd like to createa messageon the ground with a proposal to my girlfriend

Enviado por: Fitz at 13 de Abril 2007 a las 02:09 PM

I'm addicted to google earth! This blog ain't too bad either!

I sail too, and just die when I see all the fine places to go.

All: check out the crater on Mt. St Helens. New hi-res shot of the region gets you so close you can smell the sulfur--Yikes!

Enviado por: Peter at 25 de Abril 2007 a las 03:04 PM

The pictures of lake Eyre in central Australia are very strange when you notice that half the lake has a few meters of water and the rest has none!

A Big seasonal differance considering that only once every 4 years or so it has water in it !